Big Trouble for Big Sugar

BY STEVE BORN

Nearly 50 years ago, the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) funded an animal study, Project 259, to examine the effects of sucrose (table sugar) on cardiovascular health. When the evidence appeared to show a link between sucrose, heart disease and bladder cancer, Project 259 was cut short and the results were never published, according to recent findings from the University of California at San Francisco [1].

Fast forward to this decade. When a study [2] published in 2016 showed that mice that were fed a high-sugar diet were more likely to develop breast cancer, a major sugar lobbying group, the Sugar Association, basically brushed off the results, calling them “sensationalized,” stating that "no credible link between ingested sugars and cancer has been established."

Interestingly and disturbingly, later in 2016 it was found that the Sugar Research Foundation (originally named the Sugar Association) paid off three Harvard scientists in 1967 to make sugar seem less unhealthy and instead claim that fat in our diets was the real villain. Click here for more details.

While decades of research have shown sugar’s detrimental effects on health, once again it appears that “Big Sugar” has been manipulating the science, even burying it, as in the case of Project 259. If sugar is innocent, why would the sugar industry suppress evidence or pay off scientists to produce a research paper whose sole purpose was to shift the blame away from sugar?

The fact, as we at Hammer Nutrition have been zealously proclaiming for 30+ years, is that sugar is NOT innocent. Sugar IS harmful to your health. Did you know that over a decade ago, the estimated number of deaths worldwide that are specifically caused by elevated blood glucose was a staggering 3.2 million annually? With the sugar industry covering up and manipulating research that points the finger directly at its product—and protecting its commercial interests instead—how much higher must that estimate be today?

Stanton Glantz, co-author of this latest revelation of the sugar industry’s shady side, states, "The kind of manipulation of research is similar [to] what the tobacco industry does. This kind of behavior calls into question sugar industry-funded studies as a reliable source of information for public policy making. Our study contributes to a wider body of literature documenting industry manipulation of science.”

Since day one we have NEVER deviated from our recommendation to reduce or eliminate simple sugars in your diet and in the fuels you use to fuel your body during exercise. Sugar is NOT good for you and it DOES NOT promote optimal athletic performance and health. That’s why, unlike many widely available sports energy products, Hammer Nutrition fuels—Hammer Gel, HEED, Perpetuem, Sustained Energy, and Recoverite—are comprised of only healthy complex carbohydrates with no added refined simple sugars.